Longtime veteran Jay Hieron earned his first post-Bellator Fighting Championship victory, but it came in controversial fashion.

After locking in a second-round head-and-arm choke over late replacement Romario Da Silva, Hieron squeezed until referee Kevin Hancock stepped in and waved off the fight.

Unfortunately, Da Silva did not appear to be in any danger while offering up what appeared to be a “thumbs-up” signal and resisting the referee’s tug of his arm.

The bout served as the headliner of Legacy Fighting Championship 12, which took place Friday night at Houston’s Arena Theater. The evening’s main card aired on AXS TV (formerly HDNet).

Hieron, who had been expected to face Mike Bronzoulis before injury allowed Da Silva to step in on one week’s notice, laid blame for the apparently poor decision on the referee and pointed out the official is the lone individual responsible for making that call. Meanwhile, Da Silva called for an immediate rematch in what would seem like an obvious booking.

In the night’s co-feature, grappling ace Robert Drysdale remained undefeated in his MMA career, tapping out Isaac Villanueva in a mere 89 seconds.

Drysdale wasted little time getting the fight to the floor, shooting in on a single-leg takedown and moving the action to the canvas. When Villanueva looked to scramble up to his feet, Drysdale transitioned to the back, wrapped in a figure-four bodylock around the waist and brought the conflict back to the floor. From there, Villanueva defended the choke well, but Drysdale simply stepped over the head and transitioned into an armbar, locking out the limb after a slight adjustment and forcing the tap at the 1:29 mark of the first.

Drysdale (4-0) remains undefeated and has ended all four of his pro fights via first-round submission. Villanueva (7-7) has now dropped three-straight bouts.

In a battle of former teammates, Artenas Young promised to bring the fireworks against a man he claimed to outclass, Noel Ligon. Unfortunately for fans, Young seemed to be packing blanks.

The pair fought largely on the feet throughout what turned out to be a lackluster affair. Young shuffled and moved throughout the fight, but he simply refused to pull the trigger, and while Ligon didn’t exactly impress, he did enough to earn all three judges’ nods, claiming the fight with scores of 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28.

Ligon (5-0) remains undefeated five fights into his pro career. Young (8-5) falls to 1-2 in his past three appearances.

D.J. Linderman gave up some 30 pounds in a heavyweight matchup with Dale Mitchell, but in the end, “Da Protege” proved capable of halting “The Alpha Male”

Mitchell came out firing heavy leather, but Linderman avoided the initial barrage and dropped levels, bringing the action to the floor. Despite briefly giving up mount, Mitchell was able to return to his feet. However, Linderman controlled the action in a smothering clinch for the remainder of the round.

In the second, Linderman fell awkwardly on an inadvertent clash of heads and looked to be in a bit of trouble. However, he shook out the cobwebs, returned to his feet and reversed the momentum by scoring a pair of single-leg takedowns and winning the fight with a barrage of ground-and-pound punches that forced a halt of the action at the 3:29 mark of the second frame.

In the night’s first main-card contest, Brazilian bantamweight prospect Alan Nascimento remained undefeated, but it certainly did not come easy.

After being outgrinded by Terry Acker for the better part of three rounds, “Puro Osso” looked well on his way to losing a clearcut decision before latching on to a kneebar and forcing a tap at the 3:19 mark of the third and final round.

With the win, Nascimento (6-0) remained perfect in his young career with all six wins coming via stoppage. Acker (4-1) loses for the first time in his professional career.

Legacy Fighting Championship 12 had been expected to feature a bout for the promotion’s flyweight title between Will Campuzano and Chad Robichaux. However, as MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported earlier, Robichaux withdrew from the fight after citing serious kidney issues following a difficult weightcut.

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